Knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary health care workers regarding emergency contraception in Bukonzo County, Kasese District, Uganda
Abstract
Description
Knowledge, attitudes and practices of Primary health care workers regarding Emergency contraception in Bukonzo County, Kasese District, Uganda. Background: Primary health care workers (PHCWs) play an important role in improving maternal reproductive health. They can influence positively the use of Emergency contraception (EC) through proper counseling, prescribing, dispensing and advocacy. PHCWs have in some instances been blamed for unfavorable attitudes and lack of accurate information regarding use of EC. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of PHCWs regarding EC in Bukonzo County, Kasese District, Uganda. Methods: This was a cross sectional study. A total of 246 PHCWs in Bukonzo county, Kasese district filled a self administered questionnaire and four Key informants were interviewed. Results: Two hundred and fourty six PHCWs participated in this study. One hundred and fifty (61.0%) were females. Midwives/nurses contributed the majority of the respondents150 (61 %). Majority (77.6%) of the participants had heard about EC, however only 4.6% of all the PHCWs would be able to correctly administer EC. The attitudes of the PHCWs towards EC was generally positive with 80.1% and 59.8% of them suggesting that EC should be part of routine family planning and school reproductive health packages respectively. Fifty five female participants (36.7%) had ever used EC. Only 22(8.9%) of the PHCWs had ever prescribed EC in their practice although none of these knew the correct dosage of the modalities used as EC. Conclusions: Most of the PHCWs were aware of EC, but they lacked important knowledge on its use and the available methods. The attitudes towards EC were generally positive but the practices were low. Recommendation: There is a need for urgent sensitization of the PHCWs in Bukonzo county and other rural settings in Uganda about EC. This will equip them with accurate knowledge about EC and empower them to advocate for, counsel clients about and increase the EC uptake in the rural communities.
Keywords
Knowledge Attitudes, Primary health care workers, Emergency contraception